Pseudocorynactis caribbeorum den Hartog, 1980

(photos of Bud Barr: specimens from the coast of Dominica)

Pseudocorynactis caribbeorum is unusual, beautiful and easily recognizable species. Originally described in 1980 from Caribbean the same (or very similar) species then has been recorded from other parts of World, e.g. Canary Islands and Indo West Pacific.

In 2011 Fautin synonymized the genus Pseudocorynactis with Corynactis. According to Fautin (2011) the genus Pseudocorynactis is regarded invalid and the correct name for this species should be Corynactis caribbeorum. We disagree with this opinion. Although Fautin (2011) wrote "The only distinction between the genera provided in their definitions by den Hartog (1980) was size" this is not so. Actually den Hartog’s (1980) diagnoses of these two genera include many significant morphological features separating Pseudocorynactis from Corynactis (e.g. in Pseudocorynactis, contrary to Corynactis, all mesenteries are perfect and it has peculiar ridges on the mesenteries, and so on). So, we regard Pseudocorynactis as a valid genus, and Pseudocorynactis caribbeorum as a valid species name.